toledoblade.com --

Attorneys representing the Toledo Catholic Diocese and about two dozen plaintiffs who allege they were abused by clergy or church employees have agreed to temporarily halt action on the lawsuits while the parties attempt to negotiate a settlement.

The "discovery moratoriums" through May 27 were approved in motions filed by attorneys for both sides as they seek to settle 22 civil lawsuits before they go to trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.

"We have a long way to go, but we are all working together in great faith," said attorney Catherine Hoolahan, who has filed 10 lawsuits against the diocese representing a dozen plaintiffs and has indicated she has a dozen more clients considering lawsuits.

"I think it's in the best interest of everybody to resolve these cases without the rigors and time and expense - and I mean mostly the emotional expense - of going through a trial," Ms. Hoolahan told The Blade.

The moratorium agreements state that "all motions, memoranda, responses and replies, and pretrial order deadlines" in the cases will be deferred until

May 27.

Ms. Hoolahan said the agreements could be extended "if we thought we were making progress."

Toledo attorney David Zoll, who has filed 12 lawsuits representing 12 different plaintiffs, said yesterday that he could not comment on the moratorium.

Ms. Hoolahan said the plaintiffs' attorneys proposed the moratorium to the diocese shortly after Bishop Leonard Blair was installed in December. Retired Common Pleas Judge Melvin Resnick has been hired as a mediator, she said.

Sally Oberski, the diocese's director of communications, confirmed "the parties have agreed to a discovery moratorium until late May to explore the possibility of a settlement in some of the cases."

Tom Pletz, an attorney representing the diocese, and Bishop Blair could not be reached for comment yesterday.

A spokesman for the local victims' advocacy group said avoiding court trials would be a positive step for the plaintiffs and the church.

"Settlements aren't always about money; they're also about turning the page and making a formalized, public commitment to doing something to promote healing," said Claudia Vercellotti, co-coordinator of the Toledo chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. She has not filed a lawsuit against the diocese.

The first civil suits against the Toledo diocese alleging sexual abuse of minors by clergy were filed in July, 2002, six months after the national church scandal broke in Boston.

Depositions have been taken for some of the Lucas County lawsuits, but no trial dates have been set.

Contact David Yonke at:
dyonke@theblade.com
419-724-6182.

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